The Smile
by theparabol
Summary: After a brutal interrogation, Sasuke comes to understand the error of his ways and makes one final effort to save the only person that never gave up on him.


Writers Note

This is my first fan fiction, so please forgive the obvious technical errors I have made. The story is more about Naruto and Sasuke's friendship than it is about the fighting (mostly because I am seriously disabled when it comes to any kind of description in that area) but please try to enjoy. I am definitely open to constructive criticism and if you must, than just straight up criticism will do. I will be the first to say that this is a grand example of extremely lazy writing.

Some disclaimers: I do not own Naruto, I have absolutely nothing to do with the writing process and this is merely a fan fiction, I take no credit for the characters or the story what so ever so please do not sue me.

Also, I completely ripped off a lyric from Five Finger Death Punch… so I am sorry about that, but honestly I didn't even notice at first and once I read through it again, I just couldn't change it. You will probably notice it if you are a fan but just for reference sake, the song is "Death Before Dishonor."

**The Smile**

_This isn't what I wanted. _

"Naruto," Kakashi placed his hand on his shoulder.

Naruto quickly spun around, snapping out of his thoughts. How Kakashi found him was a mystery. He had been trying to avoid most people that day. When he was completely helpless to change anything, there was no point in engaging in any attempts to talk people out of what they were trying to do. He didn't say a word to his Sensei; instead he just turned back around and stared at the trees across the park pathway. He didn't go out there too often, but every where else there was a risk of being spotted by Sakura or someone else he didn't feel like talking to.

His hand was still on Naruto's shoulder, and it was obvious that the physical contact was something he wasn't accustomed to. He was attempting to comfort his friend though, and it was what he assumed would help. "You can only do so much. You have to learn to let go."

Naruto felt his fists tighten, but tried to relax them. Kakashi was not trying to make him upset, quite the opposite in fact, but it was still a difficult concept to grasp. "I know that," he thought about the time he and Sasuke had reached the top of the trees together. The ones he was looking at were much smaller. They were much smaller too, when that happened. It didn't feel like very long ago. "If you haven't noticed, Kakashi Sensei, I am not a very quick learner." He felt a warm smile creep onto his face and his eyes closed.

Kakashi smiled too, "That is true, but this time, there is nothing that can be done."

"You don't even care, do you? You could have killed him and not even thought twice!" Naruto pushed Kakashi's hand off of his shoulder and tried to contain his anger. "You are going to let them kill him, and you won't even blink when they do it."

As always, Kakashi maintained a silence, illustrating both an impressive and annoying patience. He waited for Naruto to relax once again, and then proceeded to speak, "You are right."

Naruto quickly turned his head and looked at Kakashi, who was gazing off into the trees as Naruto had been.

"Sasuke cannot be reached by words. He has fallen too far, there is no redemption." Kakashi looked at Naruto. "I will not blink, because when I open my eyes again and see what he has become, knowing I am not dreaming…" He quickly realized he was not helping and took a different approach, beginning with a smile that he had to force. He was in no mood to smile. "Maybe some Rammen… I know you would never turn that down…"

"Not today. Sorry… but you were wrong. When you said there is no chance for redemption…"

Naruto thought back to the day before. He and Sasuke were standing face to face, much like they had all those years ago at the valley of the end. Sasuke appeared to be weakened, already worn down by several high level Shinobi. He had gotten past them all, with only a few scratches but seriously depleted chakra levels. A small and subtle grin was creeping onto Sasuke's face as he observed his next adversary. His skill was beyond anything the people of Konoha had ever seen, and no single person could stand in the way of his goal.

Naruto cringed at the sight of the blood that was dripping from Sasuke's left eye. It seemed as though it was a permanent stain. _What happened? _Naruto thought. _What happened to my friend? _Even though he had seen Sasuke in this condition before, it was still quite shocking to be seeing it a second time. What Kakashi had said about realizing it was not a dream was exactly how he felt at that moment. "Sasuke," Naruto took a single step closer, and felt the cold chakra radiating off his friend. "Do you remember what I said?"

The grin on Sasuke's face only got bigger. "You talk an awful lot, how should I remember everything you say?" His smile was in no way friendly, and Naruto felt slightly frightened for a moment at how malicious it was in appearance. It was very obvious that he had every intention of killing him. "Sakura…" Sasuke pulled a kunai out and threw it in a direction that seemed random to Naruto, but then as it hit the side of the tree, he was a small piece of pink hair flinch to dodge the attack. "Go now. This doesn't concern you."

Naruto stared wide eyed as Sakura stepped out from behind the tree, gripping her own kunai and tears running down her face. He hadn't even realized she was there, and Sasuke didn't even glance over. He just knew.

"Killing you would be a waste of my energy. Maybe you should be helping some of those men I fought down the road a little ways." He finally turned his head to her, and chills ran quickly down her spine. "They are probably dead now anyways."

"Killing me is a waste of your energy?" She pushed the tears off her face. "Loving you was a waste of mine." She wished that she could have meant what she said, but the truth was that she couldn't stop loving him. Even after everything he did and all the people he hurt, she was doomed to doting on his every move until one of them was dead.

Naruto could see her fists clenching. There was no way she could beat him, there was no why she wouldn't be killed if she tried. "Sakura!" Naruto called. "Go, now."

She glanced over to Naruto, and saw a big smile come onto his face.

"Don't worry. It'll be alright."

She couldn't help but smile back. _You are strong, Naruto… _She could still see Sasuke, in the back of her mind. He would fight with no compassion, and no desire to leave anyone in his path alive, not even someone he once regarded as his best friend. _But… I fear your kind spirit is blinding you from seeing the person standing here. I fear as well, that the only way to stop him is to kill him… _It hit her then, that she was about to lose someone she cared very much about. Whether it was Sasuke or Naruto, one of them was about to die, and there was nothing she could do about it. _I have to find a way to stop this from happening. _"Sasuke… kun…" The name she used to regard him with slipped out of her mouth too naturally. "Do you remember when the three of us first became a team? I was so excited… I loved you so much…" Tears began welling up again, but she persevered and held them within. There was no use in crying. Sasuke already thought she was weak. "I thought that maybe you were just too cool to like a girl like me… which only made you more interesting. I know you have never cared about me, so nothing I say can ever change your mind… but still…" She looked down and smiled, "I know, that Sasuke, the one that I loved… was just a shield that you put up." Lifting her head, the tears were gone, and she finally looked at Sasuke without an ounce of sadness. "How could you let yourself become close to anyone when you know how easily that person can be taken away?"

It didn't seem, by his facial expression, that Sasuke had heard a single word Sakura spoke. As she turned and ran off toward the village, Naruto saw something. At first he thought that maybe he just imagined it, but then it became very clear that what he saw was real. Sasuke was staring after Sakura, and the menacing grin he had been wearing faded away, and for a fraction of a second, a tiny smile twitched on his face. Realizing this moment of weakness, he quickly shook off the expression and directed his attention back to Naruto.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto pondered a way to explain it first before proceeding. "I saw him smile, almost like he was remembering something."

Kakashi's eyes widened, but he quickly snapped out of his excitement. "Either way… he is still a criminal. He killed a lot of people, many of them your comrades."

"He is my comrade too. I know everyone else gave up on him a long time ago… but after I saw that… I feel like I really have hope for the first time."

Kakashi looked at his student with admiration. He had become very wise, and very patient. It was the last thing he expected after the way Naruto had been when they first met. He had been over confident and somewhat annoying at times. That behavior had been dropped, as soon as he had something real to fight for.

"If I save him, he will snap out of this. I just know it."

Sasuke was being held in the interrogation facilities. As a member of Akutski, he was valuable because of the information about them. Ibiki was leading the interrogation, and could remember Sasuke from the first level of the Chunin exams. "You showed a lot of potential." He slapped his hand down onto Sasuke's shoulder.

He jumped, not anticipating this, as they had blindfolded him as well as binding him to a chair. His chakra was constantly being drained from a seal placed on him by one of the other ANBU members. He clenched his teeth, and felt his jaw rippling with anger.

The sound of knives and other metal objects rubbing up against one another echoed to the left of the chair. "They told me that normal methods wouldn't make you talk, that you have a high pain threshold." One of the knives, one that sounded longer slid across the others. "I think they are right, but even if you don't talk, it really doesn't matter. Just hearing you scream in the worst pain you can imagine might bring peace to me, after seeing what you have done to my village."

Heavy shoes stepped towards him. His hands were trembling, and it was impossible to keep his head up with such low chakra levels. "Hearing the village scream… after what they did to Itachi… has brought me my peace..." He forced a smile onto his face. "I have felt every kind of pain… whatever you do now will just feel redundant."

Ibiki laughed. "You don't know every kind of pain until you die of it."

The knife sliced through his shirt first, tearing it seam from seam. Sasuke took a deep breath, anticipating the first cut to come at any moment. Suddenly, a pair of clamps landed on one of his abdominal muscles. The sound of knuckles cracking was made audible as Ibiki's fist tightened around the solid handle. The feeling of the clamps was extremely painful by itself, and Sasuke did everything he could to prepare for what he knew was about to happen.

"You know something, Sasuke. The use of sharp tools is very effective, but the only thing worse than sharp is dull. It's like having your fingers sawed off with a spoon. It's much slower and much more painful because it is only pressure that does the cutting, not a blade."

His breathing rate increased. It was the waiting that was the hardest.

"The suspense is…" he clamps suddenly tightened to their fullest extent and Ibiki yanked his arm back with the most force he could exert. It took a second, but the skin and the piece of muscle held by the clamps was torn from Sasuke's body and thrown across the room. "…Killing you, isn't it?" He finished his sentence with a slight chuckle.

Sasuke tried with every ounce of tolerance not to give him the satisfaction of screaming from the pain. He gritted his teeth together so hard that one of them cracked under the pressure, and he finally had to release it.

Before he could finish his cries of agony, Ibiki let out another laugh. "Redundant, eh?" He pushed his finger into the fresh and bleeding wound, twisting it around and getting even louder screams of pain from his captive. "Tell me Sasuke, feeling at peace anymore?" He pulled his fingers out and stepped away, looking at the other tools in his inventory.

Sasuke felt his whole body start to shake. He tried pulling his arms out of the ropes that bound them to the chair, but it was no use. With no chakra, no strength left, and no sight, his escape attempts would be fatal. The screaming eventually subsided to forced groans of pure agony. His breathing rate might have caused him to pass out if he was lucky, but it seemed as though another seal had been placed on him to keep him awake through the torture. Finally, he did catch his breath and let his muscles finally relax. "I…" he sucked in the air as his lungs were refusing to cooperate. "I…" He felt himself moving into the rehlm between awake and asleep. The seal would not allow him to pass all the way out of consciousness, but this was the closest he could get.

Ibiki didn't let it last. As soon as he realized the pain was subsiding, he proceeded to the next muscle.

"Do you think they would let me see him?" Naruto turned his head to look at Kakashi, and noticed his look of uncertainty before he had a chance to reassure him.

"You could probably see him… but you may not want to."

"… Not want to? Why not?" Naruto was genuinely confused. He knew that Sasuke was in prison, but what Kakashi said made no sense.

Kakashi sighed. "He is being interrogated. It's not a good way to see someone."

Naruto quickly jumped to his feet. "Interrogated?"

"He is a member of Akutski; information he might have on them could be valuable." He took a step towards Naruto, who was in shock. "I tried to tell them he won't talk, but I don't think they expect information. It's their own revenge."

Naruto could not listen to what Kakashi was saying any longer. He promptly took off in the direction of the ANBU interrogation facilities.

He came flying into the building at top speed. One of the ANBU members stopped him and asked him what it was that he wanted.

"Is Sasuke here? I need to speak with him," Naruto said while panting to catch his breath. "I heard that he is being interrogated." What he feared the most was that they might use the interrogation as an excuse for why Sasuke would be killed. It would look like an accident, and he also couldn't imagine how brutal the death would be.

"The interrogation is a top secret matter. No one can just go in and speak to a prisoner." The man was adamant. The significance of Sasuke to Naruto was unknown to him, but he had to deal with people like this every day. It was just procedure.

"Is there any way I can see him, please?" Naruto was trying to stay calm and controlled. Begging would not sway this man.

"When the interrogation is finished… in three days, you can speak with him."

"What?"

The man did not respond. Instead he turned and walked in the other direction away from Naruto.

"Wait! Sir… is there any way… any way at all that I could just see him? I don't even need to talk to him; I just want to see him."

"For what purpose?"

Naruto tried to think of a reason. He really couldn't even think of one himself. It was all adrenaline that got him there and he really didn't have a plan at all. "I… I can't explain it… but after everything I went through to get my friend back here… I just need to see him."

The man looked down at his feet and considered the circumstance. "The prisoner… Sasuke… is blindfolded. I suppose it would be alright if you stood in the room to watch the interrogation... you won't be allowed to interfere though." He looked at Naruto who was very obviously trying hard to contain his excitement. "I will warn you though; if you claim this man is your friend, you may want to think twice before witnessing this type of interrogation."

Kakashi had given him a similar warning, but Naruto doubted that it could be as bad as they made it sound.

He was very wrong.

Blood began dripping from his mouth as Ibiki pushed another thick needle into Sasuke's neck. "Don't move from the pain. You will become paralyzed."

He couldn't speak either, and his breathing felt seriously constricted. More blood came pouring out of his mouth while the long knife he had used to rip his shirt of was slid into a non vital area just below his heart. The only sound he could make was a small crackling noise with the back of his throat.

Naruto was shown into the room at that point. His own breath was taken away as well when he saw Sasuke bleeding so profusely. He was completely motionless, and Naruto suddenly feared he was dead. He was not allowed to say anything though, and he quickly realized Sasuke was not dead when Ibiki slid the knife out of his chest and stuck it into his right leg. Sasuke's arms were shaking uncontrollably from resisting the pain. It was clear that the pins in his neck were there to stop him from moving, leaving him no way to release the pain, only increasing its intensity. _Is this what all interrogations look like?_ He wondered. _No… this is just because it is Sasuke. _

Ibiki looked up and saw Naruto in the room. He gave him a smile, as if Sasuke was not even there. "Ah, Naruto, what a surprise," he said this while yanking the sword out of Sasuke's leg. "This was your team member, right?"

Naruto could not answer. His jaw was locked and his whole body was trembling from the sight. Sasuke's stomach was torn apart, piece by piece, and he could not even begin to imagine the pain he was facing. "Is… is he going to…" When his voice sounded, he could see Sasuke stop shaking for a moment and almost relax. "… Live?" The dry lump in his mouth became uncomfortable and he swallowed it loudly.

Ibiki laughed. "We'll see. He has lost a lot of blood already…" He grabbed the needles in Sasuke's neck and pulled them out very quickly.

Sasuke immediately released the screams he had been holding in and let his head hang to regain some strength.

Naruto took a step towards Sasuke. "Maybe you should let him rest?"

Ibiki looked at Naruto and could see the way it made him feel to see his old friend this way. Sasuke's neck was going into spasms, which meant he would probably pass out if he persisted for too much longer. The seal they placed was only good until a certain point. "Okay. We will take a break."

Naruto finally relaxed, and he could hear Sasuke panting since his breathing had been restricted by the pins.

"Can you handle him alone? He has no strength, not that he could do anything anyways… fucking brat…" He laughed and set the knife down on the table. He then continued to grab Sasuke's hair and tipped his head back, "Isn't that right Sasuke."

Sasuke was still shaking and gritting his teeth. "Fuck you…" He said, and then spit blood up into Ibiki's face.

Naruto felt his heart jump ask Ibiki swung with his right hand and packed a punch right into the side of Sasuke's head. Sasuke folded to the side and blood continued pouring out of his mouth. "Why are you still trying to be a hero?" After saying this, he turned to Naruto and smiled again. "I will be outside the door."

On the previous day to that one, Sasuke and Naruto did not get a chance to see who won their fight. It was clear to both of them that it could have gone either way. Both had such immense amounts of strength, but then Sakura's plan went into action. Before long, all of the Shinobi, including some of the most skilled showed up and surrounded Sasuke. He activated Susano, to keep himself protected from their attacks, but soon, the technique took its toll on his body, and he collapsed from the pain and exhaustion.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said with a cracking voice. He knew that Sasuke could not see him, but he still fought the urge to cry. "This isn't what I wanted…"

He spit out more blood onto the ground. It appeared that they had pulled one of his back teeth out. Sitting up was impossible, but his neck was in such severe spasms that Naruto could see them shaking all the way down his arm.

Naruto quickly stepped next to Sasuke and helped him sit up, then proceeded to rub out the knot in his neck.

Sasuke cringed slightly from the pain, but it was nothing compared to what he had just faced. "Naruto… why are you doing this?"

Once again, he did something he didn't need to because Sasuke could not see him; he smiled. "I used to hate you," he began, "But I couldn't help myself to become your friend. You… and I understand each other. Everyone has given up on you now, just like no one had any faith in me, everyone hated me, and gave up on me before I had a chance to do well."

"Stop wasting your time. I am not going to live."

"That's fine…" Naruto said with a smile. "There is still enough time."

The spasms in his shoulder finally decreased in frequency. "I…" He ran into the same stuttering problem he had been suffering from earlier, and then swallowed the blood that was pooling in his mouth. "I'm…" The blood trickling down his throated made it difficult to resist coughing, "A waste of your time." The coughing finally pushed through. Blood was spat out onto the ground when it finally seized.

"It only takes one person to believe otherwise to make that a lie. I know from experience." The knots in his friend's neck finally released. "Sasuke, just tell them whatever you need to get out of here, I will find a way to get things back to how they were."

"What makes you think I want things to be the way they were?"

"Because otherwise, you will die, just as you said."

"I chose death before dishonor." A small smile crept onto his face. "I am sorry, Naruto, but I can never be the person you want me to be."

"I have never asked you to be any person but yourself. I want you to stop being Itachi, and Madara, and your clan, and the avenger, and just be Sasuke again."

Ibiki opened the door again at that moment. "Sorry, Naruto, but I have to continue the interrogation now." He looked at them and noticed Sasuke's expression towards this man. It was difficult to define, but he knew how to make the interrogation more painful at that point. "Naruto, maybe you should stay and watch."

Sasuke's expression instantly changed, and Ibiki took note of this. His teeth clenched together as did his fists.

"No, I don't think I can handle it," Naruto said, half because he really believed it, and half because he could sense Sasuke did not want to be seen that way. "Thank you," he said with a nod to Ibiki. As he was just about to leave, Sasuke suddenly spoke up.

"Naruto!" He said urgently, and then realized he had just revealed his point of weakness again. "Th—thank you…" His head was hanging while he said this so that Naruto could not see his face, but it was still possible to tell that there was a slight smile creeping up onto his cheeks.

As soon as he reached the part of town, he came face to face with the one he was trying to avoid. "Naruto!" Sakura called out. She started walking towards him, but he turned his shoulder and started in another direction. "Wait!" She called, and ran to get beside him. "Naruto, I'm sorry… but I didn't have a choice! If I let you fight… one of you or maybe even both of you were going to die…"

"I told you…" He stopped, and tried to avoid eye contact with Sakura, "I told you not to come between us."

"But… Naruto… I didn't want you to die…"

"Go look at Sasuke now, and tell me it would not have been better to let us fight."

Sakura looked down at her feet and felt tears coming on. For that, she did feel guilty. "I didn't realize they were going to interrogate him… but it's not like they will kill him, that's not what they are for…"

"Trust me, Sakura; they have every intention of killing Sasuke. It is not a normal interrogation."

She turned to Naruto, surprised. "What do you mean? They just want to know Akutski's plan, don't they?"

"There is no way he will talk, and they know it. If he dies in the interrogation, it will just look like an accident. Besides, they want revenge too, for everything that has happened, and he is the only one available to take it out on."

Sakura felt ashamed. She had once tried to kill Sasuke herself, so the compassion that she was feeling, in logical terms, was strange, but love was not logic. It was strange to remember the way Sasuke was the day before, but she couldn't help but notice the same thing Naruto did; the smile. "I am selfish…" She said.

Naruto finally turned and faced her.

"I want both of you in my life. I want for Sasuke to forgive the village, and I want the village to forgive Sasuke. I want you to forget about fighting Sasuke when I can't even stop thinking about him," She pushed the hair out of her face. "I must be very hard to read lately."

"It's okay. It is a difficult situation."

Sakura continued to ponder the smile that she saw the day before. "Naruto…" She started walking again, and he followed her with less tension and coldness between them. "Did you see…? I mean was it just me or…"

"No, I saw it too. After you started talking about the old team seven… It was really quick but you didn't imagine it." He looked to Sakura and smiled, in spite of everything that was going on. "When I saw him today, it was almost like talking to the old Sasuke. He was in so much pain though, so it was hard to tell." He was sure of it though. The old Sasuke was there somewhere, and it was just itching to get out. There was no way that he could do it without admitting some kind of wrong though, and also no way of getting away with everything he had done.

"Sasuke kun?" Ibiki said with a laugh. "That is what all the girls called you, back when you were not a criminal?"

Sasuke remembered the day before, when Sakura regarded him in this way. He tried to get the thought of her out of his mind; it only represented weakness, and only led to more emotions that he could not deal with.

"I can still remember those Chunnin exams; you showed a lot of promise. You could have done something good for the village and followed in the steps of your noble clan, but this is what you did instead."

Trying his best to maintain a relaxed tone of voice, he tilted his head up to the ceiling, although he could still see nothing. "Funny you should say that. If my clan did so much good, why did the village order my brother to kill them?"

Ibiki ignored this point; instead he went back to the other topic, the one that Sasuke could not justify. "Who is the one girl… or was it two of them… they spent most of their time staring at you or following you around. You never paid them any attention though."

Sakura and Ino, he concluded to himself. He was surprised that Ibiki had been so observant. He never allowed himself to become distracted by the girls that were obsessed with him. Even though it was tempting at times, he was all consumed by his quest for revenge. It was almost like no other emotion was allowed to enter his mind.

"Maybe we should have some of those girls come here now and watch the interrogation. Let them see how strong you are not, how cool you are not, how pitiful you are. I am sure they all would be very impressed."

"If you could not tell during your careful observations, I pay no attention to those people. Bring them here if you are not annoyed by crying; it is what they do best."

"The only cries I am annoyed by are yours."

"I haven't cried once, Ibiki. If you have not noticed since you cannot see my eyes. Take this blindfold off and you will understand that you are losing your touch. As I said before, it is all redundant."

Ibiki was glad that the blindfold was still on; otherwise Sasuke would have seen him squirming at this insult. "Fine," He said plainly, taking a step towards the table with all his different tools. "I see that physical torture does not affect you." As quietly as possible, he lifted a small scroll. Sasuke had no chakra, so there was no danger if he realized what was going on, but the element of surprise was what would make his next assault the most painful of any he had ever inflicted. "I was planning to save this for someone with more important information…" He pulled the string that held the scroll tightly together. "But you are really pissing me off."

In a single swift motion, the scroll unraveled, and Ibiki took a small drop of Sasuke's blood, smearing it across the two arm lengths of scripted paper. Taking Sasuke's hand, he performed a quick seal, then released it, stepping back a couple paces. "What… what is going on?" His hand started to go cold.

Ibiki continued to step back until he reached the door. "Sorry, Sasuke kun, I must be going now. I will be back in a few hours to make sure you haven't found a way to kill yourself. As I said before though, I find you're crying to be very annoying, so I must be going."

The coldness continued creeping up his arm. It was not a regular type of cold. It was an evil, dark, and most of all, painful type of cold. "What the fuck…" The cold reached his head, and suddenly he was warm again. The door to the room opened and closed quickly, but the echo lasted. The moment the echo finally subsided was the moment he left reality.

"Hello Sasuke," a familiar voice said. He could feel their hand on his shoulder so clearly.

_They are not there; don't let this thing fool you. _He could feel that he was no longer bound to the chair in this illusion. All it would take to see them would be to turn around. _Don't do it… They are not real. If you turn around, whatever this thing is will have all the control. _

"I miss you, son. Please, don't be upset with me. You have grown so much, just let me see you!" The voice pleaded. Then the sound of tears came. "You hate me now… why Sasuke?"

"I don't hate you…" He said it so naturally. _Don't talk to it like it is real. _Very tightly he forced his eyes to stay shut.

"Why won't you look at me then!" The cries were very loud now. Her hand slid off his shoulder.

He could picture her sobbing behind him. "Shut up!" He shouted. "You are not real!"

The cries became audible, and chills ran down his back. It was exactly what he expected his mothers cry to sound like, though he never actually heard her cry in her life time. "Why Sasuke? I love you so much! Please don't hate me!"

He lifted his arms up and dug the palms of his hands into his eyes. The temptation to open them and just she her one last time was unbearable. "I love my mother… but you are not her…"

"How can you say that? You are the reason I am dead! You were not strong enough, and now you hate me! For what?"

_She wouldn't say that… _He kept reminding himself. Still, it was painful to hear it in her voice. He always felt that way, and felt that his family did too, but was thankful that he never heard it.

"You could not stop your brother."

"My brother wasn't the one that needed to be stopped! He was acting out of loyalty to the village…"

"You still couldn't save us. The only one you could save was yourself. That is what you do best, isn't it? I thought I raised you better."

_Stop talking to her… I mean… it! Stop talking to it, this only makes things worse. _"Shut up! You don't know me!"

"I know you have become selfish."

"Everything I do is for the clan…"

"A clan that is dead. Nothing you do would have brought it back. If everything you did was for the clan, and you are the last survivor, than everything you did was for yourself."

He clenched his teeth together. This voice he had not heard for so long was speaking the truth, and he could not bear to listen to it much longer. However, he feared that by moving his hands from his eyes to his ears, one of his eyes might use it as an excuse to look at whatever was behind him.

"You used to be the sweetest child," She was crying again, and it made Sasuke sick to his stomach. "What happened to my son?"

"Don't be upset, please mother," the illusion was broken; it was just a reality to him now. His hands slid off his face.

"What happened Sasuke? You used to look up to your father, now you are trying to destroy the village he protected his whole life! Tell me what happened!"

"Everyone was kill…" He spun around with tears streaming down his face while saying this, but when he completed his turn, he realized the terrible mistake he made.

There was a knife being held to her neck by a man he had never seen before. She was crying uncontrollably, but when she saw his face it was almost like she smiled. It only made her seem more real, and at that point, it was almost impossible for him to distinguish between the reality and illusion. "Sasuke…" She pleaded with a cracking voice while the knife was pulled even tighter to her throat, "Help me."

He tried to move towards them, but his body was suddenly paralyzed. The coldness he felt before returned and he struggled to overcome it. It was no use though. "What…?" He tried to move just his fingers, they were completely numb. "Mother…" _It's not her! It's not her! _His head was screaming at him, but his heart was so happy to see her again. It ended abruptly though, as the knife was swiftly and cleanly drawn through her neck and her limp and lifeless body crashed to the ground. All he could do was watch in complete horror. _It's not her! Don't let it get to you! _The problem was that it already had.

"Sasuke…" The man shook his head, with a slight smile. "Just like always… standing by while you let others die. You are weak. You can do nothing."

He continued to struggle against the force, but he was not controlling it. It was like being inside someone else's dream. "Who are you?" He muttered. The paralysis was stitching its way up into his lips.

The man laughed. "I am someone that represents your fears. I know all of yours, but you know none of mine. That is because I am not a person like you. This is my entire world, Sasuke. This scroll they sealed me in, the scroll I sealed myself inside… It is my heaven, and your hell." He stepped over the body toward Sasuke. "In a single blink of the eye, I know everything there is to know about your past, about your deepest fears, your regrets. In a way, I have become you." Slowly, he raised his arm and placed it on Sasuke's shoulder. "Oh Sasuke, I really pity you. Any skilled Shinobi would never have allowed himself to fall into my trap. I didn't expect it to be that easy."

Since he was closer to Sasuke's face, it was easy to detect more features about this man. He was quite plain, with pale skin and black eyes. His hair was black too, and nothing about it was distinctive. It was like a prison hair cut. This man reminded him of no one he ever met before. He was completely emotionless, and completely detached from the situation. "I had to look. You would not understand how much I miss everyone. Even one chance to see their face again is worth the pain I will experience now."

"I would understand, actually. As I said before, I have become you. I have always been inside you, I am inside everyone. There is nothing about you I do not understand. You will come to find that to be the most painful experience. You will have no way of justifying any of your actions to me; you are only trying to justify them to yourself, but a piece of you, which I now have, knows all the subconscious doubt you have faced. That is what I will share with you now."

Kakashi found Naruto and Sakura. It was a relief to see them talking to one another. Naruto had been extremely upset with her the day before. What she did was understandable though. "Hi you two," he said while placing his hand behind his head, trying to seem relaxed. "How is Sasuke? I heard you got in…"

"Kakashi, there has to be some way to stop this interrogation!" Sakura said very urgently before Naruto had a chance to answer the question.

"I'm afraid there is nothing I can do. I have no say in what goes on over there," He tried not to appear too sad, but it was difficult, especially after what Naruto had said.

"The interrogation though… even he knows it is going to kill him. You must have some power to stop it. I mean, you were almost the Hokage!"

Their sensei let out a long sigh. "I'm sorry, but there is no stopping it. Maybe this interrogation with finally snap him out of this mind set of his."

It did not take too long for the illusion to begin traveling at full speed. At first, the man just talked to him. Telling him everything Sasuke already knew, everything that haunted him and everything that drove him to be the person he was. He could handle that. Although it was annoying, it was not anything new to him. Then it progressed, getting to the real psychological torture. One by one, every person he ever knew and cared about was brought before him. Most of them spoke to him first, some for a very long time. All from his clan blamed him for their death, and made him feel guilt for being the only one that survived. His father was one that spoke for a long time, telling him that Sasuke could never have measured up to his brother. He told him that he expected his child would have done more with his life, and that Sasuke was a disgrace to the Uchiha name. The whole time, he could feel tears streaming down his face, and he begged his father not to say that.

"I was just a kid… I have become strong… I avenged everyone!"

"Don't try to pretend you are the hero. A hero would have saved us when he had the chance," The image of his father was so clear that he could touch it, but unfortunately, he was still suffering from the paralyses.

After several hours in the illusion, the door opened again. The sound was strange as if it was coming from the back of his head. He felt so relieved that he had gotten through so much time in that hell. Ibiki stepped over and picked something off the table. "Sorry about that Sasuke, I forgot something in here. Hope you are having fun."

The words felt like giant weights being thrown at his chest.

"Don't look so happy, Sasuke; you are only about a minute into this."

Twenty thousand hours. Eight hundred days. It felt like years, yet only occurred in two days. The illusion had the ability to control time, and the more Sasuke plunged into it, the more it did feel like being trapped in someone else's dream. Through it all, he was able to see hundreds of people, some very close to him, die the most brutal and gruesome deaths, and watch it all completely helplessly. There was absolutely nothing he could do about it.

When Ibiki really did return, at the five hour mark as he had mentioned, Sasuke was screaming at someone to stop saying what they were. He could not help but feel some empathy. The story of the Uchiha clan was well known to the people of Konoha and to him especially. The illusion had all the control, because the more regret and the more hatred inside a person, the more it had to feed on. The blind fold was completely soaked with tears, and Ibiki wondered what exactly it was the Sasuke was seeing. He also knew that he never wanted to find out. When he was given that scroll, he was told to use it sparingly, and never to use it on someone that was nobly trying to protect their own village or family. He was also told that it was more likely that the things a person sees in the duration would be more likely to send them into a catatonic state than make them speak. That was exactly what happened to Sasuke.

When the scroll reached the end on the second day, Ibiki was there to replenish the food and water that he had missed out on. At first, he made absolutely no acknowledgment to there being food, and Ibiki quickly checked his pulse to find out if he was dead. He had never used such a harsh form of psychological torture. There was a pulse though, a very slow one. "Sasuke," he said in a loud, solid voice.

There was no reaction.

_Did he pass out? _Ibiki carefully removed the blind fold so he could check his eyes. They were open, and he stared at them for a couple seconds. When Sasuke blinked, he knew that he was still conscious. "Sasuke, I have water for you. Drink it slowly, your body is starved and needs to process it." He pressed the edge of the glass to Sasuke's lips and tipped it back. Most of the water just dripped down his chin. Ibiki helped by pulling his head back and some of the water ran into his mouth. He held his head back until Sasuke was forced to swallow it. He knew that the state he was in would make it impossible to eat anything. _What happened? This doesn't look like the same kid. _"Sasuke!" He shouted at him now, and tapped him on the side of the face. "Say something if you can hear me."

Once again, there was no reaction. His eyes did not twitch, his hands did not move, and he said nothing.

_God damn it! _"The illusion is over! I promise! Now snap out of it!"

Still nothing, the nightmare he was trapped in for what felt like two years had promised him 100 times that it was over. He let his guard down the first few times, thinking it was serious, and then he was sucked back in, and it would start all over again. His body would not allow him to make that same mistake again.

On the third day, Sakura asked if she could see him. Naruto had told her not to go while the interrogation was still happening. After what he saw, he knew there was no way she could handle it. He also told her that the interrogation would be over after three days, and she would be allowed to speak to him.

She was shown to a room by Ibiki, who was quite distraught and guilt ridden about the whole thing. The way Sakura reacted when he told her Sasuke was in a catatonic state only made him feel worse. It seemed that she was genuinely concerned for Sasuke, more so than a school girl crush. She tried as hard as she could to hide her feelings, but she was still very obvious.

Sasuke was sitting in a corner of the spacious, empty room with his hands resting on his knees. The wounds that had been inflicted onto him during the interrogation were still too obvious for her look see without feeling her eyes well up with tears. His eyes were completely detached from reality, and he made absolutely no movement when the door to his cell was opened and closed.

One of the guards stood in the corner opposite to Sasuke, and nodded to Sakura when she asked if she could get closer to him.

Very cautiously, she stepped towards the battered and motionless person she had loved for such a long time. Even more cautiously, she extended her arm and placed her hand on the side of his face. There were many bruises about this portion of his face, but he did not flinch when she touched him. Slowly, she lowered herself down onto her knees and let her hand slide off his face. "Sasuke kun…" The tears started pouring down the sides of her face. "Why did you let it get this far?" Quickly, she pushed the tears off her face, knowing how much her crying annoyed him, but the tears were replaced by new ones in a matter of seconds. "What did they do to you? Why won't you say anything?" She pleaded. It was just as Ibiki had said, Sasuke could no longer distinguish between reality and the illusion, and she did not think it would be this bad though. She took one of his hands in hers with a very delicate touch. "It's me, Sakura… I know I am not the one you would want to see right now…" Her tears were now dripping down and hitting the ground. "… But, I still love you, Sasuke Kun… I know it is stupid… But I can't help the way I feel." She gripped his hand even tighter. It felt like holding a dead persons hand. "Please, Sasuke kun, I swear it is really me! Please do something! I need to know if you are alright… I will never be able to live with myself if you are not!"

_Sakura… didn't she die already? This could be another trick… but I didn't think I would see her again. _

"Listen to me Sasuke! I am telling you I love you! I am telling you I forgive you! Now snap out of this!"

_Forgiveness? That is strange… I have not heard that word in so long… _

She continued to cry with loud sobs, and was very close to dropping his hand, when suddenly she felt something. At first, she thought that maybe she imagined it, but then she felt it again. In awe, she stared at their hands as his slowly tightened around hers. The tears came to an abrupt stop.

"S… Sakura?" He lifted his other hand to her face and wiped the tears from her left eye. "It is really you?"

He had never touched her that way. It felt like the biggest relief to her. "Yes, of course it is me… Can you hear me?" She said this with such a big smile, she wondered if half the words she meant to say actually came out right.

He stared at her for a few seconds, adjusting his eyes back to real life. "I thought…" Remembering what had happened only three days ago felt like trying to remember something from three years ago. "I thought I heard you say that you forgive me… I thought you hated me…"

He was still gripping her hand, even though he had relaxed more. Sasuke had a completely different energy about him. It was not as cold as a few days before. Although his chakra was still completely drained, she was still able to tell that it had returned to the way it had been many years ago. "I do forgive you…"

Suddenly, he did something she had never seen him do before. His own eyes filled with tears, and he pulled her hand closer to him. "I am so sorry, Sakura," He said, in the most sincere way possible, and then let his head hang down as the tears fell from his eyes. "I messed up. I messed up everything." He let go of her hand and wiped the tears off his own face.

Sakura could do nothing but stare at first. Whatever it was that happened to him must have been catastrophic. Once she got past the shock of seeing him in that state, she slid closer to him and rested her hand on his shoulder, "Not everything… not even close."

He lifted his head and met her gaze. Both of their eyes were filled with tears. "Why are you doing this, Sakura?"

"Doing what?"

He glanced over at her hand which was still on his shoulder. "I don't deserve your kindness, we both know it." Not too long ago, in real time, he would have been prepared to kill that girl, who was sitting before him and comforting him now.

She knew he was right, but once again, could not help the way she felt. "Let me go tell them you have woken up. Your interrogation is over for now." She went to stand up, but Sasuke quickly grabbed her arm and stared at her with trembling eyes. "Sasuke…?"

He pulled her close to his face, and for a moment, she thought he was about to kiss her, but then he started whispering something to her. "Please, Sakura… can you stay here with me? Just for a little while."

His hand was shaking; the prospect of her leaving made him very scared. She sat back down in front of him, and he still wouldn't let go of her hand. She had never seen anyone more terrified in her life. "For a little while… You are acting strange, Sasuke kun…" She said to him blatantly. "What happened? Can you remember anything?"

Sasuke did not answer, instead he closed his eyes and tried to erase it, but now the memories were a part of him, just like everything else. "I can't explain it… I don't really want to either. Maybe in a little while, when I know for sure I am out of it…"

"Out of it? Out of what?" His pupils were dancing while he said this; it was almost like he was following something with his eyes, but she didn't know what. He seemed like a different person completely. The change he had undergone in only three days of her time was astounding. Something drastic and something that had its own ability to control time would have been needed to yield that result. She wondered how long Sasuke had been stuck in the other place. Only a few times had she heard of this type of torture, and what was organized to occur while someone when placed under it was virtually unknown. It seemed to have had a positive affect on Sasuke's feelings toward her, so silently; she was thanking Ibiki; even while observing the state Sasuke was in.

Sasuke did not answer her question. Instead he looked away from her and down at his shirt. It was covered in his own blood, even though they had made an effort to wrap up his wounds. Sakura looked down at it too. She had been trying to ignore it; but being trained in medicine made it hard to miss things like that.

"What did they do? To your stomach…?" She slipped her hand out of his and gently pushed his shirt up. The sight of what they had done almost immediately made her sick to her stomach. They had ripped out parts of his skin and flesh with a tool that did not appear to be serrated. Someone that was not a doctor had also stitched the wounds back together; probably as a method of torture. Very cautiously, she placed her hand on the wound. Sasuke tried to hide the physical pain he was in, but it was obvious from the look on his face and the way his jaw was rippling that it was almost unbearable. With a quick glance over her shoulder, she saw that the guard was not looking at them, so she channeled her chakra to help repair some of the injury. It looked like a potentially fatal wound, and whoever was in charge of giving medical attention to the prisoners was doing an awful job. It became very clear, even clearer than before, that no one there cared if Sasuke lived or died.

Before she got too far with treatment though, Sasuke snatched her hand away from the injury and pushed it off his stomach. "Don't, Sakura," his hand started shaking, and he lifted both his hands up to his mouth and started coughing. When he started tasting blood, he quickly turned his head away from her, and finished coughing it up on the floor beside him. When the coughing finally seized, he looked back to her with blood running out of his mouth; the clot where they had pulled one of his back teeth out was reopened and gushing blood with every pulse. "Don't help me. Let me die, but stay with me so I know it is for real."

When he said "let me die," her heart sunk, and the tears started welling into her eyes once again. "But… Sasuke Kun… I can heal you…"

"Thank you Sakura… but I am a waste of your energy," while saying this, he lightly closed his eyes and gave her a smile. It looked as though it took a considerable amount of energy just to curl up the edges of his mouth as they twitched into place.

Her own mouth was quivering, and as Sasuke leaned his head up against the wall beside him, she quickly stood up and took a step away from him. "I'm sorry… but I can't let you die."

As she stepped away, Sasuke eyes widened and he tipped forward onto his hands and knees. "No! Sakura, don't! I…" He lunged towards her and reached with his right hand to the base of her skirt. The moment he did this was the moment the guard threw a kunai that hit him directly in the bend on his elbow. By the time he ripped it out of his arm, Sakura was out the door, and the guard was pulling his wrists behind his back.

"Where did you get the energy for that from?" The guard sneered. Despite his tone, the mystery still remained. The seal they placed on the prisoner was set to last for several days, and leave them with extremely low amounts of energy. However, that quick movement he had just exhibited demonstrated the use of some chakra.

_Thank you, Sakura. You have done enough. I can get out of here now. _

"Ibiki!" Sakura called as she ran up to him. He was with Kakashi at the time, who was debating whether or not to go speak to Sasuke. They both turned and saw the look of both excitement and stress on her face, and wondered what had happened. "Sasuke is responding, but… he is acting strangely, he needs medical attention, whether he wants it or not." She said this very quickly and suddenly felt very light headed.

Kakashi quickly realized she was falling off balance and pulled her shoulders back into her center. "What's wrong, Sakura?"

She tried to concentrate but was feeling quite weak. "I think I am just… tired… that doesn't make sense though…"

Ibiki and Kakashi looked at one another, exchanging a concerned glance. They both immediately figured out what had happened, and then evidence of their predictions came true.

The guard from Sasuke's cell came running towards them with several scratches on his face and trying desperately to catch his breath. "Sir! The prisoner! He escaped!"

Sasuke had returned to a place in the village he knew most people would not think to look for him. He went to the secret Uchiha meeting place, and planned to find a way to regain some strength there first before continuing on to find Naruto. The wounds on his stomach were bleeding profusely, and he knew he probably left a trail of blood to his hide out. It would not be long before the tracking hounds were on his trail. Quickly, he took his shirt of and ripped it up into pieces. On the way over there, he realized quite a heavy breeze. The pieces of his shirt were released into the wind. _There won't be much time now…_ He reminded himself.

"Sakura, did you help him escape?" Kakashi asked her quickly. The more time they wasted there, the colder Sasuke's trail would become.

"No! I didn't!" She started falling off balance again, and Kakashi caught her before she fell completely to the ground.

"He absorbed her chakra somehow… Someone get her to the hospital, I need to find Sasuke."

Everyone in that village would be able to recognize him if they caught even the smallest glimpse. After a few minutes of searching some of Naruto's old favorite places, he realized that finding him might turn out to be more difficult than avoiding the police force.

Naruto was no where in particular. He was roaming the streets in the center of the village, thinking about Sasuke and wondering if he was still alive. A small piece of cloth came drifting towards him on the wind, and he reached out to grab it, thinking it was a headband or something. When it came in contact with his hand though, he realized it was spotted with blood, and the color of the material was one he had only seen a few times before. It was that of the prison. "Sasuke…" He whispered while closing his hand around it. "Where have you gone?"

As he was thinking this, Sasuke was not very far away at all. In fact, he had just caught a glimpse of the unmistakable orange jumpsuit that belonged to Naruto. There wasn't much time left. Akutski's plan was about to come to fruition. No one but those in on the plan was aware of the strategic placement, all for the sake of capturing the nine tails without any casualties of their own. Sasuke feared, as he ran towards his old friend that he might be too late. He poked his head around the corner, and saw that Naruto was approaching a point that would give the enemies that were trailing him the advantage. "Naruto…" He said in a hushed tone.

Naruto's keen sense of hearing caught the small vibrations in the air. The voice sounded very familiar; and as he remembered who it belonged to, the small piece of cloth he had been gripping drifted to the ground. He turned around to face the direction the sound had come from, and by that point, Sasuke was already a few steps away from him, and still running at top speeds.

"Naruto! You have to go! Now!" He said to him in a panicked tone. The chakra he absorbed from Sakura was being eaten up by the wounds he had sustained. There was not much left in him, and there was no way he could get his friend to safety. All he could do was warn him, but he feared that Naruto would try to save him. After saying this, he began coughing up the blood again, and fell to his knees. "Hurry!" He shouted between the coughs. "You can't fight them all…" The pain in his stomach worsened as his energy became even lower still.

Naruto just stared at him in shock. Most of what Sasuke had said seemed so strange to him that he wondered if he had imagined it. "Sasuke…"

His eyes were still searching, and he could tell that Tobi and several others were stirring in the shadows of the buildings. "Leave me here! Go!" He grabbed the base of Naruto's shirt and pushed him toward the direction of safety. The motion was extremely painful, and after completing it, he curled over and gritted his teeth from the extreme pain.

Naruto, still in shock, turned his head back to Sasuke. He did not want to leave his side, but just then, faster than Naruto could react to; a long sharp blade came from the shadows and impaled Sasuke in his shoulder. "Sasuke!" He shouted, and turned back to pull it out of his shoulder.

"I told you to go you idiot!" He did not want his last words to his friend be that he was an idiot, but coldness was the only thing that could make Naruto allow him to die.

"I'm not leaving you!" Naruto grabbed Sasuke's injured arm and pulled it onto his shoulder. The weight was clearly going to slow him down, and there was not much time. Tobi stepped out of the shadows, followed by a few others that Sasuke had seen before. Sasuke showing up was not part of their plan. Since he did not return three days earlier, they assumed he had been killed and proceeded with their next plan of capturing the nine tails.

"Stop it! I am going to die either way!" There was still enough time for him to get to safety; to warn the others.

Naruto could remember Sasuke saying that he would chose death over dishonor. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he felt the same way. If he ran at a time like that, and left his friend behind, that would be dishonor. If he stood and fought, and died in the process, it would be better.

Tobi looked at Sasuke, then to the others that stood amongst him. "I can handle this. Go scout out the area. Make sure no one will interfere."

The others ran off into all different directions. It was just the three of them now.

Naruto looked at Sasuke, whose eyes were starting to fade shut. Very carefully he laid him down on the ground, knowing he did not have much time if he wished to save his friend.

Tobi was laughing in the background. "Sasuke, why did you have to get in the way like this?" The laughing came to a stop. "I feel quite tired; I would appreciate you coming with me easily. It will happen whether you decide to fight or not."

"You must know nothing about me," Naruto replied with a determined smile.

"I am sorry, Sasuke, but your life is worthless to me now." The Tobi who said this suddenly went up in a puff of smoke, and Naruto turned around swiftly only to see the real Tobi holding a long sword to Sasuke's neck.

He felt stupid for falling for such a trick. It was one that he himself would have used. The fact that he didn't see it coming was attributed to the amount of shock he was in from everything happening so quickly. Tobi knew that, and capitalized on it.

Sasuke was struggling against the blade slightly, but tried to conserve his energy. It was being pressed tightly to his neck, and he could feel his skin being cut.

"Come with me, Naruto, and I will spare his pathetic life. I will even heal him."

"No! Naruto! Take your chance, get out of here!" Sasuke pleaded. More blood poured out of his mouth as the blade was pressed into his neck with deeper pressure.

"You don't want me to kill your friend, do you Naruto?"

_No… I can't… _Naruto could remember all the times that Sasuke had saved his life in the past. The Sasuke that was before him now was the same one, maybe even better than the one from all those years ago. His wounds were so severe, perhaps he would die either way, but Tobi had offered to heal him, which is something no one else would do. "I…" Sasuke's eyes trembled as he recognized what Naruto was about to say. "I will come with you…"

Sasuke concealed his rage. This was not what he wanted. He did not want to survive. He just wanted to save his friends life one last time; to bring closure to their complicated friendship, and let Naruto move on with his life. He even smiled slightly, just to himself. _You have become strong, Naruto. I am honored to have called you my friend. _Tobi's heart beat was directly behind his spine, pressed up against his back. _I am sorry to do this in front of you._

"Excellent. You have made a good choice. Sasuke, why don't you…" The sentence ended abruptly and with a small crackling noise resonating from Tobi's mouth. "… What…?" He looked down, and could see the sword he was holding to Sasuke's neck stabbed through his own heart. Blood was running down the tip, which was exiting out his back. How it had happened seemed unclear for a moment, and then he realized that Sasuke had impaled himself with the blade in order to reach his heart. His movements were so quick and with such precision, if he had taken the time to turn around, Tobi may have been able to react. His hands, with their reduced blood flow, released the blade, and he staggered backwards, having the blade slide out of his chest, and then fell to the ground. "… How…" He placed his hand over his chest and it immediately was covered in the blood that pulsed out of it. "It is impossible…" Sasuke was standing on shaking legs and the blade driving straight through his back. It would have been impossible to avoid any of his own vital organs in order to reach Tobi's heart.

Naruto's jaw released, and he stared in horror as Sasuke fell to his knees and began to waver. His hands were still dug tightly into the blade of the sword, and he pulled them out. Naruto could feel his eyes quivering as he took a few steps toward his friend. Sasuke began to fall forward, but Naruto rushed to him and caught his shoulders before he could hit the ground and drive the blade even further into his chest. "Sasuke…" He said in a hushed tone, and closed his eyes so he would not see him cry, but this only forced the tears out. _My friend… Why did he do this? _"I could have saved you, Sasuke! Why did you have to do that?" Naruto cried. "Why couldn't you let me save you!" For all those years that he searched for Sasuke, tried to persuade him into coming home, it had always been his dream to save his friend. Sasuke never had any interest in being saved though.

Sasuke coughed up even more blood and felt his eyes starting to go black. "I can't… feel my legs anymore…" Sasuke said with wide eyes looking up at the sky. Naruto turned him over onto his back and supported his head and spine so he would not feel any more pain. Sasuke's eyes were completely dry, and he glanced over at Naruto, who was weeping uncontrollably. "It's okay…" He said, and tried to lift his hand but his lack of energy pulled it back down to the ground.

The tears were coming down in streams, and some of them landed on Sasuke's forehead. "Why? Why couldn't I save you in time?" Naruto repeated, and gritted his teeth together. The sight was so painful, so he closed his eyes again, but quickly opened them when he felt Sasuke's trembling hand on his shoulder.

He was smiling, although it was hard to tell with his blood covered face. His eyes were barely able to keep themselves open, but he pushed along, as he still needed to say a few things. "Naruto…" He began. "You did… save me." His hand slipped off Naruto's shoulder, and landed on the ground. "You saved me… from myself…" His breathing became even slower, and his heart beat was barely detectable. The edges of his mouth began to twitch as his final words were forced out of his mouth along with his final breath. "Thank you… my friend."

He knew he was not supposed to cry. Shinobi were never supposed to cry, but it was impossible not to. "Why…?" He whispered again. He saw as Sasuke closed his eyes, and his color faded away. "Why…?" The heart beat slowed even more still, Naruto held his breath until finally; the next beat did not come at all. "Why do you have to let me live! I do not want to if this is the price!"

Sasuke did not respond. His body became even heavier, just dead weight.

Carefully, he pulled the sword out of his friend's chest. Blood did not rise up from the wound, his veins were completely dry. He stared at Sasuke's closed eyes and realized that the corners of his mouth had finally relaxed, and the smile was faded from his face forever. The body was very heavy, and Naruto wondered if there was still any trace of life inside him. His skin felt so cold though, it was impossible for something to be living there.

He saved his life, for the hundredth time it seemed. This time, however, the only way to do it was to die himself. It was what Sasuke wanted. _This is not what I wanted._

The hair that had fallen over his friends face was brushed away by the wind. Slowly, he lowered the body down to the ground and began to cry again at the sight of his own hands which were covered in Sasuke's blood.

Sasuke did not receive a funeral. He was not seen as a hero for sacrificing his life so his friend would not be forced to sacrifice his own. He was only seen as being an escaped convict, a rogue, a traitor, a wanted man, and a disappointment. There were only a few people left that remembered him as anything else.

Naruto found himself at the dock Sasuke used to sit at when they were kids. For some reason, every time he glanced back, he thought he saw Sasuke walking by. They would exchange a comforting smile, and then Sasuke would travel on. No such thing really happened. Kakashi found him, on the second day after Sasuke's death. He placed his hand on his shoulder, this time much more comfortably, and sat down beside his student. "I'm sorry, I should have anticipated…"

"No, Kakashi. There was nothing any of us could have done differently," he looked at his sensei and smiled. "He is happy now. For the first time in a very long time I think. He can finally say he is happy."

"But I could have done…"

"There was nothing." Maintaining his pleasant and content smile, he turned his head back out across the water. "Maybe he will keep the smile he died with."

Kakashi looked at his student with even more pride now than he had a couple days earlier.

"The only thing I would change now is that it was him here instead of me… that I could have been the one to save my friend."

"We all feel that way… but the guilt you feel now, the kind that seems so unbearable, the reason you wish the roles were reversed… it is the same as what they would feel if they had been. Don't wish this feeling on anyone else. Survivor's guilt is sometimes worse than death itself… at least, that is what I hope… otherwise I am afraid to die."

Naruto and Kakashi sat in silence for a few minutes, contemplating what he had just said, and both arrived at the individual consensus that he was completely right. They both had their friends die in front of them. It seemed strange to Naruto that Sasuke was the one reassuring him while he lay only moments away from his own death. He must have experienced some kind of peace or some kind of revelation that told him everything would be okay.

Sakura came and found them at the dock. At that point, she was out of the hospital for almost a whole day. Sasuke did not intend to drain her of all her chakra; just enough to get himself out of there, but he didn't factor in the amount she used when trying to heal him. The old Sasuke would have let her heal him, and she would have died. When she got up to tell Ibiki he had woken up, he tried to stop her because he knew she would only waste the little energy left in her. After thinking about what had happened, Sakura realized this too. When she found out he had saved Naruto's life, she became extremely happy and knew that the kind Sasuke was there to stay. Unfortunately, the news of his demise came shortly after.

She sat down beside Naruto, and when he turned his head to say hello to her, she saw the smile on his face. _I guess it is true… Sasuke really did save his life. Naruto does not look hurt at all. _She forced herself to smile back. She was not the one to see Sasuke die after all. If Naruto could fake happiness at a time like this, so could she. "Naruto… do you think… do you think it was painful?" Forcibly, she swallowed her tears. "Do you think it was painful when he died?"

Naruto looked at her, still keeping the slight smile on his face. He could remember Sasuke's comment to him about not feeling his legs. That was when he knew it was over, and he knew he could not be saved. "No, Sakura. I think that may have been the first time he felt nothing at all."

About three days after Sasuke dying in his arms, Naruto lay down in his bed for the first time and tried to get some sleep. It had been impossible for the past few days, and even though he was dead tired, he could not stop seeing Sasuke's face. That night was no different. After a couple hours of tossing and turning, he finally gave up the battle and turned his lights on.

The village outside his window was still quiet. There was no one he could go and do something with, but he did not feel like laying around thinking about Sasuke any longer. He directed his attention out to his bedroom floor. Many things were tossed about, out of their proper place, and something in particular caught his eye.

The clothes he had worn the day Sasuke died. They were in a pile in the corner and still covered in his blood. He neglected to do anything with them the first day because it was just too painful. Part of him must have remembered they were there and would not allow him to sleep until the evidence of that moment was disposed of.

He stood up and staggered across the wooden floor. Going so long without any kind of sleep was certainly taking its toll on his strength. Once he reached the corner, which felt like an eternity after standing up from his bed, the clothes were picked up and he began the long journey to the waste bin to dispose of them once and for all. As he tossed them in and tried to look away, tried to forget what happened, something strange caught his attention.

"Huh?" He groaned while rubbing his eyes to try and keep them from fading shut.

It was a note. Just the corner of the paper was visible, but as he extracted it from his pocket, the word _Naruto_ in large print was written on the front. His heart began to race with excitement as he opened the card and confirmed that it was Sasuke's writing.

Inside it read:

_Dear Naruto,_

_I have to write this very quickly so I cannot say everything I want to, but there are a few things you must know. If you are reading this, I know I am dead, but you can not blame yourself. I wasted too much of my life taking blame that was not rightfully mine. Don't be like me, Naruto. _

_As I said, if I am dead and you are reading this, you should remember that everyone dies; some sooner than others, but we all do after we fulfill our purpose. I think that mine was not what I believed it was for so long. My purpose was to make you stronger, to make you reach your full potential. My purpose was to be your friend, and I did an awful job. For that, I apologize, but I will not apologize for making you stronger. _

_I only hope that reading this will bring you the peace that I feel now. I think that if everything goes as I plan, we will meet again some day. Maybe on that day, I will get another chance at the whole friend thing. _

_Sasuke_

_PS. Tell Sakura I am sorry and I wish there was more time._

Naruto gingerly closed up the letter and noticed the small fingerprints of blood smudging the creases. It did not faze him though; in fact, it made him quite happy that in his condition Sasuke thought enough of them to write it. "You are wrong," Naruto said while tipping his head up to the sky. "You were the friend that I needed." His heart felt warm and his hands trembled as he folded the letter in half and propped it up next to the old picture of team seven.

"I won't let your life be in vein."

The End


End file.
